SHAHMAR
Backend Engineer|
Building distributed systems that scale. From Baku to the world.
Hi, I'm Shahmar
I'm a backend engineer with a passion for building high-performance distributed systems. Currently pursuing AI studies while architecting scalable platforms that serve thousands of concurrent users.
Baku, Azerbaijan
Open to remote
Studying AI/ML
Self-taught & always learning
Building
Meetzy & NovaLingua
I'manentrepreneurandbackendengineerfocusedonbuildinghigh-performancedistributedsystems.Co-founderofNovaLingua,anAI-poweredlanguagelearningplatformforCISandMENA,andcurrentlyaSeniorBackendEngineeronahigh-trafficconsumerplatformserving50,000+dailyactiveusers.
MyjourneyspansfintechateManat,national-scalecybersecurityinfrastructureatIDDA,andearly-stageproductengineeringasthefirsttechnicalhireatMiloyinLondon.Ibringasystems-thinkingapproachtoeverychallenge—fromevent-drivenarchitecturestoLLM-poweredassessmentpipelines.
WhenI'mnotcoding,you'llfindmecompetinginalgorithmicprogrammingcontests,exploringnewcloudarchitectures,ormentoringthenextgenerationofengineers.
Work Experience
Co-Founder
NovaLingua
Co-founded and lead an AI-powered language learning platform serving users across CIS and MENA. Architected the complete system spanning backend services, mobile applications, and the AI scoring pipeline. Designed an LLM-powered assessment engine leveraging retrieval-augmented generation for structured scoring. Established CI/CD pipelines and mobile release workflows to streamline product development and deployment.
Senior Software Engineer
NDA
Senior Backend Engineer on a high-traffic consumer platform with 50,000+ daily active users. Own multiple core microservices within a distributed, event-driven architecture, enhancing system reliability. Led pre-launch load testing initiatives, resolving concurrency issues in critical financial flows. Designed and implemented third-party integrations and built a real-time engagement feed system.
Software Engineer
Innovation and Digital Development Agency
Developed backend services for a national-scale cybersecurity platform, focused on threat intelligence feed ingestion and normalization. Designed event-driven data pipelines using message brokers and relational storage for efficient analytics processing. Implemented detection tooling and internal APIs supporting government and enterprise SOC teams. Enhanced platform reliability through observability instrumentation and infrastructure hardening on Kubernetes.
Software Engineer
eManat
Developed and maintained payment processing services in a microservices architecture, ensuring transactional integrity and idempotency. Built integrations with banking partners and utility providers under strict compliance requirements. Optimized critical hot paths in the payment flow, improving throughput during peak loads. Participated in on-call rotations and post-incident reviews for production systems handling real money transactions.
Software Engineer & Shareholder
Miloy
Joined Miloy as the first technical hire and led development of the product from concept to launch. Owned the entire technical stack — backend APIs, frontend applications, and DevOps pipelines. Collaborated closely with founders to translate business goals into actionable features, ensuring alignment with product vision. Contributed to scaling the engineering team through strategic hiring and onboarding.
Skills & Technologies
The tools and technologies I work with daily
Languages
Backend & Frameworks
Databases
DevSecOps
Security
Cloud & Messaging
My Projects
Products I'm building and shipping
NovaLingua
AI-Powered Language Learning
An intelligent language learning platform that adapts to each user's proficiency level. Integrates NLP models for grammar correction, speech-to-text for pronunciation analysis, and spaced repetition algorithms for vocabulary retention.
Meetzy
Social Discovery for Gen Z
A next-generation social platform designed for authentic connections. Combines proximity-based verification with university communities, gamified interactions, and real-time location features.
Awards & Achievements
2x ICPC NERC Finalist
Two-time finalist in the ICPC Northeastern European Regional Contest, solving complex algorithmic challenges under time pressure against top teams across the region.
Presidential Award
Received the 2026 Presidential Award for outstanding contributions to technology and innovation in Azerbaijan.
Microsoft Imagine Cup AI Hackathon — 2nd Place
Secured 2nd place in the Microsoft Imagine Cup AI Hackathon, building an innovative AI-powered solution competing against teams worldwide.
FLL Winner
Won the First Lego League competition, demonstrating early passion for engineering, robotics, and creative problem-solving.